MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
The fall of the Roman Empire ushered in the medieval period in Europe, a period which saw plagues ravage and people were helpless to stop the spread of disease, with many eking out a harsh and uncomfortable existence under feudal systems.
Some historians have traditionally referred to the early medieval period as the ‘Dark Ages’ – although there is a movement to change this way of thinking. In terms of medicine, though, surviving source material is scant and there isn’t a great deal of evidence to suggest that medicine evolved much beyond the teachings of the ancient Roman and Greek empires. Indeed, according to Professor Mary Fissell, early medieval medicine was “frankly not super-sophisticated”.
“It was logical for people to believe that God had decided to make them ill in the first place”
Early medieval medicine often focused on herbal remedies and charms, and the works of ancient physicians – in particular that of Hippocrates and Galen – were still closely followed and taken to be accurate, but as human dissection had been banned in the Roman Empire, Galen had based most of his scientific findings on the anatomy of animals. It wouldn’t be until the early 16th century that human dissection would be fully utilised as a way of learning about the body – and even then, it was sometimes seen as controversial.
Another key factor behind the lack of progress in medieval Europe was down to the simple problem
